A Baldwin County man shot and killed by the FBI was reportedly assembling a militia that would answer to Donald Trump. Court documents identified the suspect as Alexander Randles and that his armed group would target Attorney General Merrick Garland among other officials considered corrupt. The suspect also reportedly has letters addressed to Trump and former Attorney General nominee Matt Gaetz and Elon Musk.
Alexander Randles’ militia reportedly target government officials while similar armed groups may be playing in indirect role in Donald Trump’s promise to deport illegal immigrants, perhaps as soon as his first day in office.
The Associated Press commissioned a commentary on subject by Doctor Amy Cooter, a researcher of terrorism and extremism at the Middlebury Institute of International Studies in Monterey.
She wrote…
Militias are generally wary of the government. They’ve even been known to use violence and other government representatives, including police. I have found in my research that the militias’ disdain for the federal government is especially strong because they believe it is too big and corrupt and takes too much of their income through taxation.
But militia members’ negative beliefs about immigration and self-declared mission to protect the country could lead them to join a national mass-deportation effort.
My research finds that militia members generally believe the falsehoods that undocumented migrants are a threat to society.
For some, my research finds, this perception is rooted in xenophobia and racism. Other militia members misunderstand what is required to obtain U.S. citizenship: They believe that anyone who enters the country illegally is, by definition, a criminal and has therefore already proven their intention to not follow the laws and generally be a good American. This is not true, because migrants may seek asylum regardless of their immigration status for up to a year after entering the country.
Members with both sets of motives believe that undocumented migrants are taking jobs away from more deserving citizens and are generally receiving unearned benefits from being in the country. Trump’s promises to crack down on immigration appeal to militia members of both types.
Militia members also believe that one of the few legitimate functions of the federal government as outlined by the Constitution is national defense. In that sense, those who believe migrants are an urgent threat could see the military’s involvement in a mass-deportation operation as consistent with a duty to defend the nation.
Most scholars agree that even if it were technically legal, domestic deployment of the military would be an alarming threat to democracy
Active participation
Some militia units in border states have been engaged in deportation efforts for a long time. They typically patrol the border, sometimes detain migrants and regularly call the U.S. Border Patrol to report their findings.
Border Patrol agents have historically expressed skepticism and concerns about militia involvement with border monitoring due to the unverifiable skills and motives of civilian support.
Some state, county and local police also do immigration enforcement, and in recent years they have seemed to become more open to civilian assistance.
Some local police agencies, particularly sheriffs, are already asking for civilian assistance managing perceived problems with migrants. Others have hosted anti-immigration events with militias who patrol the border under an effective, if not formal, deputization of their actions.
Militias may also be called on directly. In the past, Trump has directly addressed militias. The most cited example is his instruction in a Sept. 29, 2020, presidential debate, directing the Proud Boys to “stand back and stand by” People had similar interpretations of his comments in advance of the Jan. 6, 2021, insurrection.
Not all militia members support mass deportation, especially if it involves unconstitutionally deploying military forces on U.S. soil. That’s clear from my research.
“The military is the military, and law enforcement is law enforcement,” one militia member replied when I asked some of my long-term contacts for their perspectives on Trump’s declaration to use the military. “They are separate for a reason.”
This man believes undocumented migrants pose dangers – but thinks shifting the military’s role would be even more harmful. Not all militia members are so circumspect.
